Ariarne Titmus

Background In 2015, when Titmus was 14 years old, she and her family, including father Steve Titmus, moved from Tasmania to Queensland for better training opportunities. She initially attended secondary school at St Patrick's College Launceston before switching to St Peter's Lutheran College in Brisbane. Titmus first trained as a swimmer at Launceston Leisure and Aquatic Centre. She is coached by Dean Boxall, who formerly coached Stephanie Rice and Leisel Jones. Titmus is a supporter of the Hawthorn Hawks in the Australian Football League.

Swimming career 2016–2017 In December 2016, Titmus made her Australian team debut at the World Championships (25 m) in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Her first event was the 800 m freestyle, where she finished fourth in a time of 8:17.95. She then competed in the 400 m freestyle, finishing sixth in a time of 4:02.70. Her final event was the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, in which she split 1:55.14 on the third leg; Australia finished fourth in a time of 7:40.00.

In July 2017, Titmus competed at the World Championships in Budapest. Her first event was the 400 m freestyle, where she came fourth in a time of 4:04.26. She then competed in the 200 m freestyle, finishing seventeenth in a time of 1:58.79. She then swam in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, splitting 1:56.61 on the anchor leg; Australia won the bronze medal in a time of 7:48.51. Titmus' final event was the 800 m freestyle; she finished fourteenth in a time of 8:37.10.

In December 2017, Titmus competed at the Queensland Championships in Brisbane. She went 4:02.86 in the 400 m freestyle, breaking Jessica Ashwood's Australian record of 4:03.34 from 2015.

2018 In February–March 2018, Titmus competed at the Australian Trials on the Gold Coast. She went 4:02.36 to set another Australian record in the 400 m freestyle.

In April 2018, Titmus competed at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. She won the silver medal in the 200 m freestyle in a time of 1:54.85, 0.04 behind Canada's Taylor Ruck. Titmus then competed in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. She split 1:55.59 on the anchor leg, securing the gold medal in an overall time of 7:48.04; Australia broke the games record of 7:49.90 set by the nation in 2014. Titmus then swam in the 800 m freestyle, winning the gold medal in a personal best time of 8:20.02. Her final event was the 400 m freestyle, which she won in a time of 4:00.93. Titmus' time was a new games record, surpassing the mark of 4:04.47 set by New Zealand's Lauren Boyle in 2014, and was also a new Australian record.

In August 2018, Titmus competed at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo. Her first event was the 800 m freestyle, in which she won the silver medal in a time of 8:17.07, breaking Ashwood's Australian record of 8:18.14 from 2016. Titmus then competed in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, splitting 1:55.27 on the first leg to give Australia an early lead. Australia won the gold medal in a time of 7:44.12, which broke the national record of 7:44.31 from 2008, and the championship record, set by the US in 2014, of 7:46.40. Titmus' final event was the 400 m freestyle. She won the silver medal in an Australian record time of 3:59.66, becoming the third woman to break the four-minute mark in the event.

In December 2018, Titmus competed at the World Championships (25 m) in Hangzhou. Her first event was the 200 m freestyle, winning the gold medal in a time of 1:51.38. This was a new Australian record, surpassing Emma McKeon's mark of 1:51.66 from 2015. She then competed in the 400 m freestyle; she won the gold medal in a world record time of 3:53.92, surpassing the mark of 3:53.97 set by China's Wang Jianjiahe in October 2018. She then competed in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, splitting 1:52.22 on the first leg. Australia won the bronze medal in a time of 7:36.40, breaking the national record of 7:37.57 from 2010. Titmus' final event was the 4 × 50 m freestyle relay, where she split 24.71 on the second leg in the heats, before being replaced by Emily Seebohm in the final. Australia eventually won the bronze medal.

2019–2020 In April 2019, Titmus competed at the Australian Championships in Adelaide. She went 1:54.30 in the 200 m freestyle, breaking the Australian record of 1:54.83 set by McKeon in 2016. Titmus then went 3:59.66 in the 400 m freestyle, equalling her own Australian record.

In June 2019, Titmus competed at the Australian Trials in Brisbane. She went 3:59.35 in the 400 m freestyle, breaking the Australian record.

In July 2019, Titmus competed at the World Championships in Gwangju. She won the gold medal in the 400 m freestyle, a full second ahead of the US' Katie Ledecky; Titmus improved her Australian record to 3:58.76. She then competed in the 200 m freestyle, winning the silver medal in a time of 1:54.66. Her next event was the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, where on the first leg, she went 1:54.27 to set a new Australian record in the 200 m freestyle. Australia won the gold medal in a final time of 7:51.50, breaking China's world record of 7:42.08 from 2009. Titmus' final event was the 800 m freestyle, in which she won the bronze medal in an Australian record time of 8:15.70.

From October–December 2019, Titmus competed in the inaugural season of the International Swimming League, representing the Cali Condors, who finished in third place in the final match in Las Vegas, Nevada, in December. Titmus won the 400-metre freestyle several times throughout the season, including the final.

In October 2020, Titmus competed at the Australian Championships. She went 3:54.58 in the short course 400 m freestyle, which was at the time, the sixth-fastest time in history.

2021 In June 2021, Titmus competed at the Australian Trials in Adelaide. She went 3:56.90 in the 400 m freestyle, which was a new Australian record and 0.44 slower than the world record. She then competed in the 200 m freestyle, swimming a time of 1:53.09 to set another Australian record, missing the world record by 0.11. Her final event was the 800 m freestyle, which she won in an Australian record time of 8:15.57.

In July 2021, Titmus competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She went 3:56.69 in the 400 m freestyle, winning the gold medal 0.66 seconds ahead of Ledecky, setting a new Australian record in the process. Her next event was the 200 m freestyle, in which she trailed behind Hong Kong's Siobhán Haughey for the first 3 laps, before taking the lead on the final lap to win the gold medal in a time of 1:53.50. Titmus broke the Olympic record of 1:53.61 set by the US' Allison Schmitt in 2012. Titmus' next event was the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, in which she split 1:54.51 on the first leg; Australia won the bronze medal in a national record of 7:41.29. The gold medal was won by China, who set a world record of 7:40.33. Titmus' final event was the 800 m freestyle. She won the silver medal in a time of 8:13.83, which was a new Australian record.

2022 In May 2022, Titmus competed at the Australian Championships in Adelaide. She went 1:53.31 in the 200 m freestyle, which was then the third-fastest time in history. She went 3:56.40 in the 400 m freestyle, breaking Ledecky's world record of 3:56.46 from 2016; Titmus' mark stood until March 2023. She qualified for the Commonwealth Games, but opted out of the World Championships.

In July–August 2022, Titmus competed at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Her first event was the 200 m freestyle. She led for most of the race, before receiving a late challenge from compatriot Mollie O'Callaghan. Titmus held on to win the gold medal in a time of 1:53.89, breaking Ruck's games record of 1:54.81 from 2018. Titmus then competed in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. She split 1:52.82 on the anchor leg, which was then the fastest relay split in history. Australia won the gold medal in a time of 7:39.29, breaking China's world record from 2021. Titmus' next event was the 800 m freestyle. She won the gold medal in a time of 8:13.59, breaking the games record of 8:18.11 set by Jazmin Carlin of Wales in 2014. It was also a new Australian record.

2023 In July 2023, Titmus competed at the World Championships in Fukuoka. Her first event was the 400 m freestyle. It was set up as a clash between the reigning Olympic champion (Titmus), defending world champion (Ledecky), and current world record holder (Summer McIntosh). Titmus led for most of the race, finishing in a time of 3:55.38 to break McIntosh's world record of 3:56.08; Titmus won by more than 3 seconds. Her next event was the 200 m freestyle. She again led for most of the race, but was overtaken by O'Callaghan in the closing stages. Titmus won the silver medal in a personal best time of 1:53.01, while O'Callaghan broke the world record. Titmus then competed in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay. She split 1:52.41 on the anchor leg, which was the fastest relay split in history. Australia won the gold medal in a world record time of 7:37.50. Titmus' final event was the 800 m freestyle. She won the bronze medal in a time of 8:13.59, which equalled her own Australian record.

2024–2025 In June 2024, Titmus competed at the Australian Trials in Brisbane. She won the 400 m freestyle in a time of 3:55.44, which was then the second-fastest time in history. She then competed in the 200 m freestyle. She and O'Callaghan were separated by no more than 0.25 for the entire race; Titmus won in a time of 1:52.23, breaking O'Callaghan's world record of 1:52.85 from 2023, and finishing 0.25 ahead of O'Callaghan. Titmus then competed in the 800 m freestyle, winning in a time of 8:14.06.

In July–August 2024, Titmus competed at the Olympics in Paris. Her first event was the 400 m freestyle, which was a rematch of what transpired in 2023. Titmus went 3:57.49 to win the gold medal. She then competed in the 200 m freestyle, winning the silver medal in a time of 1:53.81; her Olympic record was broken by gold medallist O'Callaghan. It was Australia's first gold-silver sweep in any Olympic event since 2004. Titmus then competed in the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, splitting 1:52.95 on the anchor leg. Australia won the gold medal in an Olympic record time of 7:38.08, then the second-fastest time in history. Titmus' final event was the 800 m freestyle. She won the silver medal in a time of 8:12.29, breaking her own Australian record.

In January 2025, Titmus announced that she would opt out of the World Championships in Singapore.

In October 2025, Titmus retired from swimming at the age of 25.

Television work In December 2022, Titmus was a poolside interviewer at the World Championships (25 m) in Melbourne. It was broadcast by Nine Network. She returned to broadcasting during her sabbatical year in 2025, working as a poolside interviewer at the Australian Trials in Adelaide, and the World Championships in Singapore. She continued to work in broadcasting after her retirement from swimming.

Career best times Long course metres (50 m pool)

Event Time Meet Location Date Notes 50 m freestyle 26.08 Australian Championships Adelaide, Australia 18 May 2022 100 m freestyle 53.68 Australian Championships Adelaide, Australia 18 May 2022 200 m freestyle 1:52.23 Australian Trials Brisbane, Australia 12 June 2024WR 400 m freestyle 3:55.38 World Championships Fukuoka, Japan 23 July 2023 OC 800 m freestyle 8:12.29 Olympic Games Paris, France 3 August 2024 1500 m freestyle 16:09.87 Pan Pacific Championships Trials Adelaide, Australia 30 June 2018 400 m individual medley 4:46.61 Pan Pacific Championships Trials Adelaide, Australia 1 July 2018

Short course metres (25 m pool)

Event Time Meet Location Date Notes 50 m freestyle 26.43 World Championships Hangzhou, China 15 December 2018 100 m freestyle 53.32 International Swimming League Las Vegas, United States 20 December 2019 200 m freestyle 1:51.38 World Championships Hangzhou, China 11 December 2018 400 m freestyle 3:53.92 World Championships Hangzhou, China 14 December 2018 800 m freestyle 8:13.41 Australian Championships Melbourne, Australia 25 October 2018